Touch My Hand
by GleeJunkie007
Summary: Reid helps Emily get over her biggest fear.


Emily Prentiss was not herself. She was exhausted and distracted. Exhausted from the lack of sleep she had gotten from the night before. And distracted because of a pain originating from the lower area of the right side of her jaw. It was bothersome. Painkillers didn't seem to help, so she was stuck. She couldn't get a coffee to help with the exhaustion because of the ache; Emily couldn't win.

"Everything alright, Emily?" David Rossi asked the agent. It was obvious that something was wrong.

"Not really," Emily replied. She was not one of those people to deny something was wrong when clearly there was; it was too obvious that Emily had a problem.

"You look terrible." Penelope Garcia commented, unintentionally. Emily glared at the girl, who obviously didn't mean to say it aloud. "Sorry." She said and went to sit down at her post.

"What is going on?" Aaron Hotchner asked, walking into the room with Derek Morgan. He knew that something was off and everyone was now looking at Emily, mostly with concern.

"Toothache." Emily mumbled, but they all knew what she said.

"You probably should get that taken care of." Aaron added as he sat down. It seemed like everyone was in agreement.

"Yeah...right after someone shoots me." Emily mumbled, she looked up and everyone was staring at her in surprise. She looked around and it was all 6 of them. Looking at her, they probably couldn't believe what they just heard. "What?!" She questioned in defense.

She looked around and it almost looked like Derek was holding back a laugh. "You find something funny, Morgan?" Emily questioned.

"Never thought that Emily Prentiss would be afraid of the dentist." He replied and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Funny." She said sarcastically. "Should I recall the time you and Reid were stuck in the elevator together." Derek looked away; didn't need Penelope or anyone else talking about that event.

"It's just a surprise to me." Derek added.

"It's actually pretty common in adults to have dentophobia. 5 to 10 percent of adults suffer from the phobia, usually caused by a past experience or even by dentists that are described as _uncaring_ or _cold_." Spencer Reid pointed out. "Factors of control and pain also, usually have a part in the phobia as well." They could always count on him for any sort of fact or statistic.

"Prentiss, I am sorry, but until you take of this, I can't let you work any cases." Aaron said and Emily couldn't believe this.

"You can't be serious!" Emily said, but he was.

"Sorry, but I can't have anything get in the way of the job. And with you in this condition, it isn't wise to let work on cases, which has lives at risk." Aaron said. Emily rolled her eyes as she got up from the table, ignoring JJ, who tried to say something. Spencer then went after to her.

"He has a point, it could affect your ability when having a gun at hand and even your concentration." Spencer said and Emily sighed. She still didn't like this.

"I still don't like this." Emily commented.

"Well, the sooner you get that fixed the sooner you're back to work so it wouldn't take long."

"Not happening." Emily replied. That was the last thing she saw happening.

"It's not a big deal. And unless you don't want to get cleared to work on cases, I'd say you should go. I doubt it'll be bad." Spencer told her. She knew he was right, but she wasn't happy about it. She didn't want to do it.

"I don't know." Emily said. "You don't really understand." No one really understand how she feels about the situation exactly, or why she does. Spencer sighed, he didn't really understand exactly how she felt about the specific situation, but he did know she was feeling in a way. He wanted to help her.

"I do know that when someone is confronting a phobia, it helps to have a companion of some sort."

"What are you saying?" Emily said. "You want to go with me?"

"I'd like to help." Spencer replied. "And having someone there is always helpful." Emily didn't think it was a bad idea and honestly, didn't know if she would actually go through with it if she went there along; maybe Spencer going with her would be good. She grinned, agreeing with his proposition.

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><p>Emily made the appointment for an hour later because that was when the soonest opening was available. Spencer drove her to the office and sat next to her in the waiting room, where she tried not to let Spencer see that she was scared.<p>

She looked around at the other people, besides Emily and Spencer, there were three other adults and two children. She soon turned her attention to the clock, watching as it got closer to her time; she just wanted to walk out now, but Spencer would not let her do that.

Spencer looked at Emily and noticed that her eyes were directed towards the clock. It was not a good distraction; if it could even be called one. Staring at the clock usually makes people more anxious, almost as much as when they hear sounds from where they are sitting.

"You know that looking at the clock is probably one of the worst distractions in the office." Spencer said and Emily sighed.

"You'll be okay." Emily didn't even bother to question him because no one did.

"Emily Prentiss." Both Spencer and Emily looked up and saw a young nurse. "Just follow me and we'll get you settled into a room."

Emily looked at Spencer. He knew what it meant even of she didn't say anything or look as if anything was wrong.

He smiled at her and both of them got up and followed the nurse to a room. "Okay, take a seat and Dr. Morris will be with you in a moment." The nurse, Lexi, said before leaving the room. Emily sat in the patient's chair and Spencer sat in a chair, which he moved closer to Emily.

"Can I ask you something?" Spencer asked.

"I guess." Emily replied, maybe it would be a good distraction.

"Why are you scared?" Or maybe he wants to talk about it.

"You wouldn't understand." Emily replied, she didn't really want to talk about it.

"Try me."

"Take a guess."

"Well I am going off statistics, but I would say personal past experience. And knowing you, I would also say control." Spencer said and Emily grinned.

"Is there anything you don't know?" She questioned.

"Yes. How you were able to beat me in poker." He replied.

"Seriously? You are bringing that up now?"

"Distracted you, didn't it?" Spencer said and Emily thought for a moment and then smiled. For a second she actually forgot her current situation.

"Yes. You did." Emily admitted. They heard the sound of the door opening and turned to the man that was coming inside. He had short dark hair and was probably in his mid 40's.

"Hello I'm Dr. Morris." He said, extending his hand out Emily. She took a moment, but then shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Emily."

"I would say the same, but I don't really want to be here." Emily said, honestly.

"I understand, most people I treat don't really want to be here." He told her. "But I assure you, there is nothing to worry about." Emily grinned, but didn't feel too reassured; at least he seemed caring and understanding.

Dr. Morris turned his attention to Spencer, who was sitting where he had been. "Is this your husband?"

"No, this is my friend, Reid."

"Spencer." He told him as he shook hands with the dentist.

"Nice to meet you both." He said, sitting down on his stool and putting on a pair of gloves. "So...Emily, what brings you here today?"

_My unreasonable boss. _Emily thought, but Spencer quickly snapped her out of that. "Sorry, I just have a tooth bothering me."

"Okay, we'll take a look and then go from there." He told her and she nodded.

_Don't freak out. You are okay. Nothing is even happening yet. _Emily told herself. But self reassurance never really was helpful. As Dr. Morris was putting tools on a tray, Spencer noticed that Emily was picking her nails; she only did that when she was stressed.

He grabbed his hand gently and she looked at man, who smiled at her. She had thoughts about letting going, but felt a little better with Spencer's hand holding onto to her.

Soon enough, Dr. Morris had Emily open her mouth and he started the exam. She held onto Spencer's hand tightly, but the grip was loosened a little as the exam went on.

"So what do we have to do?" Emily asked, once the dentist had finished the exam.

"Just a simple fillings. It won't take long at all." He said, but Emily really just wanted to hear what it involved; even if she knew what it involved.

"I'll explain it step to you. We can take it as slowly or as quickly as you want. Whatever works for you. And just know, you are in control here. If you want to stop, take a breath, just let me know." He told her before leaving to get thr supplies.

"Reid, I don't know if I can do this." Emily admitted. She knew what would happen and she didn't want to go through it again.

"Yes you can." Spencer said. "Like he said, he'll explain everything and he is giving you all control."

"Yeah, I have done this before and it didn't really end well for me." Emily said and Spencer sighed; this must be the soft spot in her phobia. Where it all started.

"This time will be different." Spencer assured her.

"How do you know?" She didn't think it could be different. How could it? She didn't believe that it would be okay.

"Because I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you, Emily." Spencer said and Emily took a few moments before smiling at him. "I am right here. I will be the whole time. Nothing will happen, I promise."

"And what if it does?" Emily asked.

"It won't." He told her. "Don't think about possibilities of something going wrong. Think of me and anything else that takes your mind off what is happening."

"Okay." Emily agreed. She trusted him. The dentist came back in and described the whole procedure to Emily. She wanted it over with so they started quickly. Spencer holding onto Emily's hand the whole time. Strangely, she did feel a little safer with Spencer close by and his hand in hers.

Soon ten minutes went by and she was done. To Emily's surprise it was easier once Spencer had gotten her calm.

"I told you, you would be okay." Spencer said as they walked into the parking lot.

"You did." Emily said, smiling at him. They decided they might as well use the rest of the day to themselves since it was now late afternoon.

Spencer was just glad that Emily was okay.

Emily was surprised what the touch of hand could do; it helped her face her phobia.

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><p><strong>My first Criminal Minds fanfic. I am already half way through season 6. <strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. I ship Emily and Spencer! They are also my favorites so it works out. Lol.**

**Anyway, tell me your thoughts and...**

** REVIEW**


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